Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Today is my nephew Caleb's 2nd birthday!

He is so sweet! 

And funny! 

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Virginia Creeper Trail!

Join me on a ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail!

It is a 17 mile bike trip!

Almost all of it is downhill! 

(my kinda ride!)

Daddy found a beaver stick. 

Mother Dear.

Joel. 

We all made it down with zero crashes.

It was lots of fun!

Plus,

we got to stay in a super-deluxe cabin! 

It was a wonderful way to spend fall break!

The Apple Barn!

A couple weeks ago we took a trip to Wooden's Apples

on Dayton Mountain.

We picked out a few pumpkins. 

Then we went inside for some snackeroos.

Apple fritters!

And apple dumplings!  YUM!

Now here's a funny story for ya:

Josiah wanted an apple really badly. 

I was walking around with him,

and he somehow weasled his way in front of a crowd of people picking out apples.

In just a second I see him grab a tomato.

(He thought it was an apple.)

He took a big bite out of it,

and then, realizing it was a tomato, threw it on the ground!

I grabbed him and the tomato.

He proceeded to throw a fit.

Oh heavens!

So, Ashley ended up buying a tomato and an apple for Josiah.

He ate almost the whole thing.

Anyways, it was funny!

Happy November!

Boo!

Since it's Halloween, I thought I'd try to give you a fright!

I saw this spider at camp this summer.

It was BIG and SCARY!

I got up close to take a picture.

It moved.

I SCREAMED!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Last night we went to a Halloween party as

Goldilocks and a Bear!

A family of robots:

We cooked hot dogs around a fire. 

Then we played a fun apple bobbing game. 

It didn't work too well! 

Mary Poppins and Minnie Mouse were there! 

I realize my hair is no longer golden,

but just think back to the days when it was! :)

(side note: The other day one of my students said that my hair

was black, brown, and peach......sad day!

I replied, "You can just call it blonde.") 

The End!

Go Vols!

I love going to UT games with my friend Ashley!

They are so much fun!!!

At this particular game,

the Dobyns-Bennett High School band was there.

They're from Kingsport

(one of my favorite places,

because it is home to my grandparents!).

They did an amazing half time show! 

And we even got to hang out with Anna!

It was a wonderful day!

Go Vols!

Bathroom Makeover!

I'm back!!!

Since I've been gone for a while

(it was a nice break, I must say),

I thought that I would start back with my favorite type of post...

a Cozy Cottage Makeover post!

Joel has had the bathroom complete for quite some time,

but I've been slacking on the posting (obviously).

He was working on it way back in March.

You might recall the temporary fountain fiasco.

Anyways, enough talk!

On to the pictures!

Here we have the before:

It was probably my least favorite room of the house.

Pretty gross...

fake plasticy tiles,

shell toilet seat,

ugly floor.

And after many hours of labor

(by Joel of course, not me...

along with some help from my dear 'ol dad)

I give to you

the after!

Another before:

And the after:

Those are the only two "befores" I have,

so you'll just have to enjoy some more "afters"!

I folded the toilet paper just for you!

We've got a slight nautical theme going on.

The contact paper on this window is very important!

I appreciate it more after going a few days without it!

Look at this gorgeous floor!

Just soak it in!

And here is the happy bathroom owner:

Oh yes, and take note of that soap dispenser.

I got it from Target, and I love it.

I was going to post a picture of just the dispenser,

but Joel let me know that was unneccessary. 

Hope you enjoyed the bathroom tour!

And I hope there will be more posts for you to enjoy in the near future!

Nard!

This is what our schedule looks like for the week. 

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
8:30-9:00	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions
9:00-9:50	Vision 2025	Phonetics	Phonetics	Phonology	Translation & Sem.
9:50-10:00	MORNING SNACK BREAKS EACH DAY
10:00-10:50	Phonetics	Grammar	Grammar	Gram. Test	Phonology Test
11:00-11:50	Grammar	Phonetics	Phonology	Trans. & Sem.	Trans. & Sem.
11:50-1:00	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH
1:00-1:50	Phonetics	Lang. Learn.	Lang. Learn.	Lang. Learn.	Debrief & Conclusion
2:00-2:50	Lang. Learn.	Phonology	Trans. & Sem.	Trans. & Sem.
2:50-3:00	AFTERNOON SNACK BREAKS EACH DAY
3:00-3:50	Trans. & Sem.	Field Reports	Grammar	Field Reports
4:00-4:50	Anthropology	Translation	Anthropology	Translation
6:00-7:00	ETHNIC DINNER	ETH. DINNER	ETH. DINNER	ETH. DINNER
7:00-8:00	SPEAKER	SPEAKER	SPEAKER	SPEAKER
8:00-9:30	HANG OUT TIME & HELP WITH HOMEWORK, IF NEEDED

It's something like that.  There's actually some different types of classes about technology now, and we also got a guided tour of the whole JAARS center.  We got to see the air strip and watch planes take off! 
The first night we heard a story from a man named Nard from the Philippines.  He had become a Christian by reading part of the Bible in his own language.  Well, the translator who was there working in Nard's village had not yet finished the whole new testament, but Nard decided to go to the U.S. to be trained to become a Wycliffe pilot.  Right when he became an official pilot, the New Testament was translated and ready to be given out to his tribe.  Nard got to be the one who flew the New Testaments into his tribe!  Very neat story!  Oh, one other thing...when Nard first began to speak, he said (with a thick accent), "You all are the reason I now have to wear clothes and shoes."   ha!

 He also says his favorite foods are bilingual goat and bilingual chicken, which is dog and cat!  Let's hear it for another "ha"!